Wind-damaged Oak Tree beside Lord's Throat Road

Long, solitary roads that carry on for miles across the countryside without turnings to left or right always have an innate appeal to me when I see them on maps. This particular one, the Lord's Throat Road is as picturesque as its name, as it follows the River Don for several miles as it winds through the gap between the isolated granite massifs of Pitfichie and Bennachie.

Trees along the road frequently lose whole branches in high winds, sometimes completely blocking the road for an hour or so until a local farmer turns up with a chainsaw to cut up the obstruction.

The fallen branch shown here - the result of the high winds that have swept across the area over the past 24 hours or so - seems to have been quite content to block only a side turning to a currently unoccupied steading, rather than trying to block the Lord's Throat Road itself.